I read plenty of print books but once in awhile I will listen to an audio book.

However there always seems to be something missing from audio books - for me at least.

The giant difference between audio books and print books is imagining the details. The world, the settings, and wanting to feel the environment.

Audio books have details that are read to you but they lack the kind of realism that really draw you into the world of what is taking place. Exactly like (this).

Recently I started listening to an audio saga that is being produced by the developers of a video game I am a fan of called HALO. Typically I wouldn't care for something like that, but here is where they totally won me over and did something with the saga I've always wanted audio books to be like that the developers of the Halo audio saga managed to bring to the table.

Note: For those of you that don't know HALO, they have books, comics, and video games that are all a part of the same world, now they have an audio saga connecting the games together. You can find a link to the website for HALO (here)

Back to what I was saying is that what the Halo developers did right was actually creating a dialogue with multiple characters/cast. They created sound affects, they created the world to sound like an audio movie without the listener needing to mentally create it on their own.

For those of you who are wondering what that's like check out the website where the Halo Hunt the Truth saga is being posted (its free) here.

The Hunt the Truth saga is at the end of its second season so start at season 1 if you haven't listened to it before.

I still listen to audio books but I really wish audio book developer companies would really consider doing the same thing the game developers for Halo are doing for the Hunt the Truth saga because I would totally immerse myself in audio books if they were that way, yet I still cant get into audio books the way they are now.

I never favored having stories read to me as a kid because I just couldn't get into it. I don't like being read to, I like doing the reading myself. But having stories told like recorded movies? Fantastic.

Are you a fan of audio books ? What keeps you listening and what ruins an audio book for you? Would you consider listening to more audio books if they were done like the Halo saga?

What is your opinion on the audio book industry? What changes would you make?